Minister of external affairs S Jaishankar, on Friday, credited BJP nominee from Amritsar Taranjit Singh Sandhu, a former diplomat, for getting the blacklist of Sikh foreign nationals pruned.
Addressing a gathering at an Art gallery here, Jaishankar, who had accompanied Sandhu to file his nomination papers, said: “Congress made a blacklist of Sikhs. Working against this injustice, Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi excluded many names from this list. The credit for this goes to Sandhu.”
Jaishankar was referring to the Union government’s 2019 decision in which a blacklist of Sikh foreign nationals who have been barred from travelling to India for decades was reduced from 314 to just 2. As per HT report The 312 nationals removed from the blacklist, formally called the Central Adverse List, are now “eligible to get Indian visa and the Overseas Indian Card.”
Jaishankar also said that India remains committed to ensuring the safety of its citizens in war-torn countries like Ukraine and Israel.
Earlier, Sandhu took out a roadshow in Amritsar, accompanied by Jaishankar, from Novelty Chowk to the district courts.
“We have full confidence that the people of Amritsar will elect him (Sandhu) and will send him to Delhi. He will be a very good MP in Parliament. He is the most popular ambassador of India. If Punjab’s side and Amritsar’s interest have to be put forward, you cannot choose a better man than Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Jaishankar said, adding that he had made a special request to the party to come here and be present when Sandhu filed his papers.
Talking to reporters Sandhu said he would take all necessary steps to ensure the development of Amritsar and promote industry and commerce. “I will get a special package approved for Amritsar from the Modi government. The city will be made clean on the pattern of Indore and infrastructure will be strengthened,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Talking to reporters Sandhu said he would take all necessary steps to ensure the development of Amritsar and promote industry and commerce. “I will get a special package approved for Amritsar from the Modi government. The city will be made clean on the pattern of Indore and infrastructure will be strengthened,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, SAD’s Amritsar candidate Anil Joshi also filed his papers, while in Khadoor Sahib constituency, radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh, who is lodged in Dibrugarh Jail of Assam and contesting elections as an independent candidate, also filed his papers. His papers were submitted by his uncle Sukhchain Singh. BJP candidate from Khadoor Sahib, Manjit Singh Manna Mianwind also filed his nomination papers. In Gurdaspur, Congress candidate and former deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa filed nomination papers.